Monday, November 25, 2013

Colts Observations: Week 12 vs. Cardinals

Beyond slow starts. The problems with this team go beyond the slow starts. Neither the offense nor the defense can get much traction. The defense can't get stops, the offense can't answer, the defense falters again, ditto the offense. It's a vicious cycle that continues to repeat.

No running game. The Colts lacked any semblance of a running game although it's really impossible to gauge it because they fell so far behind so quickly that the team was relegated to letting Andrew Luck get killed in the pocket. Trent Richardson did have that eight-yard run, so "he's arrived."

Where have you gone, Vontae Davis? The most puzzling thing over the last several games has been the complete and utter collapse of the secondary. During the first part of the season, Vontae Davis looked like an All Pro. Now he's just burnt toast week in and week out. Could Greg Toler's injury have that big of an impact on the whole secondary? It's hard to say, but they haven't been the same since he went down. Davis also suffered a groin injury in the second half.

Samson Satele caught a pass. That's one more than David Reed. Speaking of which...

Why is David Reed a professional football player for the Indianapolis Colts? This guy shows nothing. His kickoff return judgment was better this week, but the Colts went with only four active receivers (T.Y. Hilton, Lavon Brazill, Darrius Heyward-Stonehands, and Reed). Reed showed nothing. Don't ask me why the Colts elevated Da'Rick Rogers to the roster, sent Griff Whalen to the practice squad, and signed Chris Rainey as a return guy so we could have approximately 85 tight ends, use Reed as a kickoff returner and useless fourth receiver, and make Rogers and Rainey game day inactives. Seriously, don't ask me because I don't have the answer.

Sergio Brown had some fun. The Colts' special teams ace blocked a field goal when the game was actually a game and pushed a Cardinals player into his own return guy, which was kind of funny.

Robert Mathis sacked Carson Palmer. Mathis now has 14.5 sacks on the season after a sack-and-strip on Palmer (that's a career high). Because no one else got any penetration, there were about 85 Cardinals around to recover the fumble. I like the number 85 for some reason today.

Ricky Jean Francois showed up. This is notable only because no one else did. Jean Francois finished with a pair of sacks and thrilled us all with an overly enthusiastic celebratory dance while his team was down by about 85 points.

67-44. This is a statistical category the Colts actually won: their number of tackles (67) compared to the Cardinals' (44).

71-55. And this is why the Colts had so many tackles: the Cardinals ran 71 offensive plays to the Colts' 55. The time of possession, by the way, favored the Cardinals (36:49 to 23:11).

The game was over when... Well, pretty much when the Cardinals scored their first touchdown. Any hopes of a miraculous comeback vanished when the Colts failed to muster any points on their opening drive of the second half. Look, I knew they weren't coming back, and you knew they weren't coming back, but that's the point that sealed it.

Rally sons of Notre Dame... Michael Floyd had 7 catches for 104 yards. Nice to see a Golden Domer playing well. Not as nice to see it happen against the Colts.

Coby Fleener caught a touchdown. Luck targeted him 8 times. Fleener caught 4 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. He was also the target on the ill-advised pass that led to a Cardinals TD return.

Get up, T.Y. Get up! T.Y. Hilton was down for several minutes after diving for a pass. He eventually returned.

7-4. The Colts still control the AFC South and can cement their place by beating the Titans next week at home. I have no idea which team will show up, but the Colts team that beat the 49ers is a distant memory.

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I write superheroes, sci-fi, and a touch of the fantastic. I live and work in Indianapolis, Indiana, with my wife, Anne, and a (possibly) man-eating turtle named Willy. I'm the author of a trio of comedic superhero novels: I, CrimsonstreakII Crimsonstreak, and III Crimsonstreak. You can Email me here.